Category Archives: Blog

2015 Recipes With a Past

Posted on December 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

Recipe Ebook 2015 coverThe wait is over! We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our 2015 Recipes With a Past e-cookbook, a compendium of dishes derived from our weekly Bon Appetit Wednesday! blog posts. This year’s book contains recipes from all over the world. With 22 gluten free and 13 vegan recipes for everything from appetizers to drinks and desserts, it’s easy to plan a historic international feast.

Recipes With a Past commemorates innovators of the past who have left their own culinary legacies for today’s tables.  These recipes reflect the great bounty of this earth and remind us to cherish and preserve our cultural heritage, in all its forms. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Bon Appetit Wednesday, Culinary, Culture, Recipes With a Past

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Bon Appetit Wednesday! White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Martini and Homemade White Chocolate Liqueur

Posted on December 23, 2015 | 2 comments

peppermint barkChristmas is known for its culinary delights:  pineapple basted ham, gum drop bejeweled gingerbread houses, decadently chocolate Santas, cookies galore and anything peppermint. Indeed, peppermint is a refreshingly cool taste that adds a distinctive flair to so many holiday recipes. With some added sugar, peppermint is particularly popular in the form of the colorfully striped candy canes that are stuffed in stockings and hung on Christmas trees. Today’s recipe is a twist on peppermint’s storied holiday tradition. This is definitely not a recipe for children, although this is the season that brings out the childlike delight in all. So what better celebration of the season for us “big kids” than a palate tickling concoction combining chocolate, peppermint and a hearty splash of liquor? Continue reading →

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The Slavery Project: Bringing the Past Alive With 3D Printing

Posted on December 18, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Slavery Project

Bernard Means

Bernard Means

Today’s technologies can bedazzle the mind and senses. One of the most amazing has been the development of 3D printing. For those of us intrigued with past lives, 3D printing allows us a unique intimacy with those who have gone before. Being able to hold the model of an artifact in hand, to realize how hundreds, even thousands of years ago, other hands similarly grasped this object, is profoundly moving. This is a vital component of The Slavery Project–to immerse ourselves in the past and to feel the humanity of those lost to enslavement. Not necessarily an experience easily had, but one of critical insight, especially for young people. And this is our hope for the legacy we hand the generations that follow. That through those painful memories of slavery can arise a global will, a new world of our collective creation, where human bondage is itself a thing of the past. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Computer Technology, Culture, Education, Human Rights, Public Life, Science and Technology, The Slavery Project

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AntiquityNOW Launches The Slavery Project With an Exploration of the Triangular Trade

Posted on December 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Slavery Project

Sunday, December 6, was the 150th Anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States. This was a landmark ruling effectively changing forever the way in which the United States recognized and valued its people. For millions of former slaves, it was the difference between being seen as property and the recognition of personhood and all that it conferred.  The “peculiar institution”[1] had been a stain on the history of Great Britain and the United States in the early years of colonization. As abolition sentiments arose in the North and as the expansion west threatened the slave v. non-slave states calculus, slavery devolved into a sectional dispute. The South had built an economy based upon slave labor and abolition was vehemently opposed. The Civil War may have politically settled the question of slavery’s abolition, but the social and political fallout were profound. Inarguably, the currents of slavery have run deep in American life and its consequences are felt even today. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Culture, Education, Human Rights, Kids Blog, Public Life

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The LegacyQuest 2016 Letter of Intent Deadline is Approaching!

Posted on December 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

It’s not too late to get involved! Contact us if you need an extension.

Letter of Intent Deadline- December 11, 2015

Final Entry Submission Deadline- February 26, 2016

LegacyQuest large logo blue borderAntiquityNOW (AN) and Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) are announcing a call for entries for the 2016 LegacyQuest International Children’s Film and Video Festival. The Festival is open to young people between the ages of 12 and 15 (6th – 8th grades) in the United States and abroad.  It will be held in conjunction with The Archaeology Channel (TAC) International Film and Video Festival, May 11-15, 2016, in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Films must be produced in 2015 and 2016. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Education, Kids Blog, Kids: Education, Kids: Public Life, LegacyQuest, Public Life

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Happy Hanukkah from AntiquityNOW: Children’s Crafts for the Festival of Lights

Posted on December 7, 2015 | Leave a comment

IMG_0862For Jews around the world Hanukkah is a season of family and remembrance, and what better way to celebrate the joy and miracle of this ancient holiday than seeing the ingenuity of students from the Hollis Hills Jewish Center Nursery School in Queens, New York.

Students at the school range from ages 18 months through five years old. The slideshow below illustrates the work of children from three classes. The Lego menorah was created by a student and her father.  The children were learning about the story of the Maccabees and the miracle of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, where a small vessel of olive oil burned in the menorah for eight days at the Holy Temple. The pictures of the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hey and Shin are translated “Great Miracle Happened There” (in Israel “Here” is substituted). Continue reading →

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Posted in Art, Blog, Culture, Holidays, Kids Blog, Kids: Art, Kids: Culture, Kids: Holidays, Kids: Public Life, Public Life

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Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery

Posted on December 6, 2015 | 1 comment

13th amendment with text copy

The text is as follows:

Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

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Also, COMING SOON!! The launch of The Slavery Project by AntiquityNOW. Stay tuned to our blog for more information about this important new educational project.

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Posted in Blog, Holidays, Human Rights, Law, Public Life

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Chronicling Antiquity in the Digital Age: An Interview With the Founders of Ancient History Encyclopedia

Posted on December 4, 2015 | Leave a comment

AHE logoAncient History Encyclopedia (AHE) describes itself as a “small non-profit organization dedicated to giving highest-quality history content to the world’s history enthusiasts, teachers, and students for free.”[1] Lofty ideals indeed. But in this world of constant distraction and mind-numbing overload, how many people really care about lives long past? Turns out quite a few. Since its founding in 2009, Ancient History Encyclopedia has become the global leader in ancient history content online, attracting more monthly traffic than the British Museum or the Louvre. It’s secret? Find out below in our exclusive interview with AHE Founder and CEO Jan van der Crabben and Co-founder and Communications Director James Blake Wiener. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Computer Technology, Culture, Education, Public Life, Science and Technology

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Throwback Thursday! Ancient Games and Toys

Posted on December 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

Roman_dice_IMG_4367It is the season of toys! Parents are scouring store shelves for the most popular gadgets and games to wrap up for the holiday season. Today’s most prized playthings may take more batteries than those of the ancients, but our ancestors still knew how to have a good time. Consider the recent findings at a 1,900 year old Roman settlement in Germany. Archaeologists uncovered a board game piece and a die, proving the soldiers who lived there weren’t all work, no play. Read the complete article here.

Further evidence of ancient playtime was discovered in a  2,300-year-old tomb near Qingzhou City in China. The heavily looted site still holds valuable treasures, including pieces from a mysterious board game. “Archaeologists found a 14-face die made of animal tooth, 21 rectangular game pieces with numbers painted on them and a broken tile which was once part of a game board.”[1] They believe these pieces were used to play a game called “Bo” that hasn’t been played in 1,500 years. Click here to read more about this fascinating find.

To learn more about how our ancient ancestors amused themselves, check out our Kids’ Blog, Ancient Toys, Wii and You!

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Posted in Blog, Kids: Public Life, Kids: Recreation, Public Life, Recreation

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Bon Appetit Wednesday! Ancient Cacao Wine

Posted on December 2, 2015 | 3 comments
Cacao pod. Image courtesy of Genet at German Wikipedia.

Cacao pod. Image courtesy of Genet at German Wikipedia.

We love chocolate at AntiquityNOW. One of the first blog posts we published was about the history of chocolate (Hot Chocolate: Gift of the Gods Since 1900 BCE), so it shouldn’t be surprising that given the chance to bring you another chocolate recipe we jumped for joy! This holiday season, look no further for the drink that will delight your guests and make you the talk of the party scene: Cacao Wine from ancient Honduras. You can either buy some from Dogfish Head breweries (it is in limited release and may be difficult to find) or tackle the adventure of making your own batch with the recipe below. Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, Bon Appetit Wednesday, Culinary, Culture

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